After back-to-back losses, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reeling heading into Week 8. The struggles couldn’t be happening at a less ideal time of the season, as the Bucs are about to encounter the toughest stretch of the schedule.
The last two weeks featured matchups against potential playoff teams in the Lions and Falcons, and now the Bucs head up to Buffalo to face a Super Bowl contender on a short week.
Atlanta flipped the NFC South standings with a walk-off win on Sunday, but Tampa Bay is still in the playoff picture heading into Week 8. Right now the Bucs are clinging to the No. 7 seed, with a win in Buffalo doing a lot more than simply helping them hang onto that.
Losing to Detroit was bad enough, but the loss to Atlanta was a really blow. Both defeats came at home, as the Bucs are 1-3 at Raymond James Stadium this year. The good news is they’re still an undefeated road team, winning in both Minnesota and New Orleans — neither of which are easy places to play.
Buffalo is a different beast, and the Bucs will be tested unlike they have before this season.
What time is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game today?
Like the game against Philly earlier in the year, the Bucs don't need to win to come away feeling good but the margins are tightening. At 3-3, Tampa Bay can't afford to keep losing, and things don't get much easier after this week.
The Bucs play Houston, Tennessee, and San Francisco in the upcoming weeks, all of which could easily be losses. Setting the tone and washing the bad taste out of everyone's mouth with a good performance on Thursday night is paramount for Tampa Bay starting to turn things around.
Here’s everything you need to know to catch tonight’s Thursday Night Football game:
- Date: Thursday, October 26th
- Start Time: 8:15 pm ET | 7:15 pm CT
- Location: Raymond James Stadium
- TV Channel: FOX (Local only)
- Announcers: Al Michaels, Kirk Herbsteit
- Radio: WXTB 97.9 FM | More Affiliates
- Live Stream: Amazon Prime Video
Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will be on the call for Amazon Prime Video, with former Buccaneers quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in the building as part of the TNF pregame and postgame panel.
How to watch Thursday Night Football without Amazon Prime
Fans don’t have to be subscribed to Amazon Prime in order to watch tonight’s game. While it’s an exclusive broadcast, the game will be shown locally on FOX 13 for those inside of the normal Buccaneers viewing area.
The same is true for anyone in Buffalo’s viewing area, as the NFL has an agreement with Amazon to board cast the game in local markets no matter the exclusivity of the deal. That being said, anyone outside of the viewing area will have to subscribe to Amazon Prime Video to watch the national broadcast.
Whatever broadcast is being shown on Amazon is the one that will be simulcast to FOX13, so it won’t be any different than what is normally shown.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers inactives and injury report for Week 8 vs. Bills
Two players have already been ruled out, as Matt Feiler and Keavon Merriweather are both going to miss the game against Buffalo. Aaron Stinne will be stepping up to play left guard in Feiler’s absence, and the Bucs will rely on its healthy safeties to fill in the gap for the missing Merriweather.
One player who hasn’t been active for most of the season will be making his triumphant return on Thursday Night Football. Chase Edmonds was activated and returned to practice this week after being placed on IR earlier in the year.
His return comes at a time where the Bucs are looking for any boost they can get in the run game. Once again Tampa Bay has one of the league’s worst rushing attacks — somehow worse than last year — and rumors of a trade to upgrade things are swirling.
Edmonds could count as an acquisition if he can step up and get things turned around, but the Bucs are going to need all the help they can get. The same can be said abotu Stinne, who is coming to an offensive line that has been in shambles this season outside of stellar play from Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke.